The Conference on Disarmament (CD) presided over by Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, on Friday (16 February 2018), adopted a Decision to establish five subsidiary bodies to discuss all items in its...

Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha has said, over the 70 years since Independence Sri Lanka has never shied away from taking its fair share of responsibility in the UN system, which has...

The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva celebrated the 70th Anniversary of Sri Lanka’s Independence in a grand manner, on 4th February 2018 at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) with the participation of...

If one is to truly fathom the value of independence, it is essential to understand the pain being oppressed and subservient in the face of a foreign power. This is why we are grateful to all our heroes who...

Sri Lanka has called on member states of the Conference on Disarmament (CD) to seek to bring back the necessary attention at the highest political levels to the CD, in order to maintain the integrity and credibility of the...

Lanka Mineral Sands Limited (LMSL), a fully Government owned company operating under the purview of Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Sri Lanka has invited sealed bids from foreign parties who are interested in buying mineral products (Rutile, Ilmenite,...

Welcome to Sri Lanka

Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka of Sri Lanka speaking at the consideration of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report of Cuba:

Mr. Vice President,

Cuba participated in the UPR process on a very important landmark anniversary in its history: 50 years after the victory of the Cuban revolution. Cuba’s participation in the UPR has been a model of dynamism and active engagement. Here, Sri Lanka would like to salute the role played by Ambassador Juan Antonio Fernandez Palacios, who has been a militant combatant and a field commander in the battle of ideas in the Human Rights Council.

He has combine maturity, sagacity with militancy and fought against any and every attempt to use Human Rights selectively and hypocritically as an instrument. He has fought to make sure that the Human Rights Council is a level-playing field for everyone and that Human Rights are a patrimony of us all. Mr. President, the Council has full faith in the abilities of his worthy successor, but dare I say that we will be diminished by his absence from Geneva, next month.

Mr. President, Cuba has discharged its responsibilities under conditions of extreme external hostility, pressure and siege. This long-standing and unreasonable siege has not prevented Cuba from being a model of generosity and altruism. Cuba has not only been a model of the practice of social and collective rights within its territory, it has also been the enabler of the enjoyment of such rights throughout the developing countries. May I say that Cuba’s contribution is not limited to collective rights, because Mr. President, imagine the exercise of the rights of the individual when one who did not have sight, has been given sight through Cuba’s operation Milagro, and one who was illiterate has learned to read through the program of Yes I Can – the Literacy Program.